The Hollister police Department sent a press release May 18 reminding travelers to always buckle up and secure children in the right car seats when visiting friends and family.
This year’s Click It or Ticket campaign runs from May 18-31, Hollister Police said. During this time, local police will actively look for drivers and passengers who are not wearing seat belts. This includes vehicles in which children are not secured in child safety seats or the appropriate safety seats for their age.
“Our priority is protecting the people in our community. Wearing a seat belt or properly securing children in car seats or a booster seat gives everyone a better chance of surviving a crash,” Hollister Police Capt. Michael Paddy said. “We want every trip—short or long—to end safely, so please buckle up every time.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2023, 10,484 people killed in crashes in the U.S. were not wearing a seat belt. In California, 780 unrestrained people were killed in crashes that same year, including 24 children. Additionally, unrestrained child fatalities in California increased by 4.3 percent from 2022-2023.
California law requires all children younger than 2 to ride in a rear-facing car seat, unless the child is 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall, says the press release. Once a child reaches these milestones, all children younger than 8 are still required to be secured in a car seat or booster seat.
Children younger than 8 may not ride in the front seat unless the vehicle is not equipped with a rear, forward-facing seat. Children 8 and older, or who are at least 4-feet, 9-inches tall, may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be wearing a properly fitted safety belt, police said.
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to keep children in the proper rear or forward-facing seat as long as possible and use the “Five-Step Test” to determine if their child is big enough to safely use a seat belt without a booster seat.
